Prof. Yi-lin Tai

Principal Investigator

Research Directions
Development and Function of Neural Microcircuits
Contact  Information
Address: Room 1003, Zhidao Building, Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, 131 Dongan Road, Shanghai, China, 200032
Tel：86-021-54237136  Email：taiyilin@fudan.edu.cn

Dr. Yilin Tai received her PhD in neuroscience from the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2010. Followed a postdoctoral training at Cold Spring Harbor Labortory, she joined Fudan University at IOBS since 2019 as a principle investigator. 

Her research interest lies in the assembly of cortical interneuron microcircuits, their functions in normal brain, and dysfunctions in psychiatric conditions such as Schizophrenia and autism. She published a series of original papers in Neuron, PNAS, Cell Reports, Genes and Development, Journal of Neuroscience, etc. 

Enrollment Major
Neurobiology

Research Work

The computations of cerebral cortex rely on highly interconnected networks that are composed of two main types of neurons: one is glutamatergic excitatory neurons, which propagate signals through projection within and among various brain regions, and the other is GABAergic inhibitory interneurons, which gate signal flow and sculpt network dynamics through local microcircuits formation. Interneuron activities thus play critical roles in information process in cortex. To achieve ‘micromanagement’ of cortical activity, interneurons are adapted to various subtypes with stereotypical electrophysiological properties and specific subcellular domains targeted by their

axons. We are interested to understand how each type of interneurons achieved this subdomain targeting and how this stereotypic pattern contribute to normal brain function.

Selected Publications

1. Zhao R#, Ren BH#, Xiao YJ#, Tian JF, Zou Y, Wei JF, Qi YQ, Hu AK, Xie XX, Huang ZJ, Shu YS*, He M*, Lu JT*, Tai YL* (2024). Axo-axonic synaptic input drives homeostatic plasticity by tuning the axon initial segment structurally and functionally. Science Advances, 10(31):eadk4331

2. Qi YQ#, Zhao R#, Tian JF, Lu JT, He M*, Tai YL* (2024). Specific and Plastic: Chandelier Cell-to-Axon Initial Segment Connections in Shaping Functional Cortical Network. Neuroscience Bulletin, 40(11):1774-1788

3. Hu AK, Zhao R, Ren BH, Li Y*, Lu JT*, Tai YL* (2023). Projection-Specific Heterogeneity of the Axon Initial Segment of Pyramidal Neurons in the Prelimbic Cortex. Neuroscience Bulletin, 39(7):1050-1068  

4. Tai YL#, Gallo NB#, Wang MH, Yu JR, Van Aelst L*(2019). Axo-axonic innervation of neocortical pyramidal neurons by GABAergic chandelier cells requires ankyring-associated L1CAM. Neuron, 102(2): 358-372

5. Tai YL, Janas JA, Wang CL, Van Aelst L*(2014). Regulation of chandelier cartridge and bouton development via DOCK7-mediated ErbB4 activation. Cell Rep, 6(2): 254-2633